Rural crime and policing
Rural crime has in the past often been a forgotten side of policing. But over recent years we've seen a rise in crime in the countryside; much of it of a particularly mindless and destructive nature.
I raise this and other similar issues at the briefing meetings I hold with our local Area Police Commander where we can discuss the impact of crime on our towns and villages. Shortly after the General Election I also explored with the staff at Kidlington police station the nature of crime in the new area of the constituency from Kirltington and Bletchingdon across to Weston on the Green.
Theft is a major problem ranging from items of machinery of all sizes to animals. However, one of the most disturbing increases has been in the mindless destruction of animals. This goes well beyond poaching; animals are being deliberately rammed by vehicles and left to suffer agonising deaths.
I've raised this issue nationally on Radio 4's Farming Today programme and thanks to initiatives such as Michael Colston's Dogwatch Scheme there are good intelligence networks on the ground. I've been impressed that the police have reacted positively to our concerns and are taking this seriously. Recently, for example, combined air and ground operations by the police have led to successful arrests.
Nationally, we need police forces that have greater freedom from Ministerial control and are better able to deal with the crime and anti-social behaviour that blights people's lives. But, they also need to be more accountable to the public they serve.
We need to reduce time-wasting bureaucracy that hampers police operations, and introduce better technology to make policing more effective while saving taxpayers' money. Whether this involves the publication of more detailed local crime data or regular meetrings with local residents we also need to give people greater legal protection to prevent crime and apprehend criminals, and ensure that people have the protection that they need when they defend themselves against intruders.
Case Studies
I have summarised below examples of real constituency cases with which I have been asked to help. Personal and identifying details have been removed to protect the privacy of those involved.
Student Finance
A mature student found her student loan tuition fees unpaid after administrative errors had been made. We got the matter resolved so that studies could continue. The constituent said: 'Thank you so much for this, you've managed to sort this in under a week when I've been trying for over 6 months.'
Visa Problems
A constituent requested us to intervene with the UK Borders Agency after the Agency had taken over a year to deal with his case. By working with the Agency and the constituent on the detail of the case we were able to resolve it successfully.
Child Support Agency
After years of trying to resolve his case with the Child Support Agency we were able to cut through the clerical errors and complexity of the case so that correct payments could be made. The case could only be resolved by patient determination over a number of months.
Planning enforcement
Although planning is outside our normal remit, we were able successfully to challenge on behalf of constituents a local district council as to whether it was following due process in relation to a persistent breach of planning which was causing a significant nuisance.
Sewage and water
On behalf of local parish councils we have been able to work with Thames Water to focus on problems of sewage and drainage across a wide area to ensure progress in resolving issues underlying raw sewage washing down a village street.
HMRC
HMRC was about to take action against a local small business, despite having got its tax affairs in order, which would have made it difficult for it to operate. Successful intervention persuaded HMRC that the action they wanted to take was inappropriate.
Air Traffic
In response to complaints about increased aircraft noise, we were able to clarify with the air authorities how aircraft movements are mananged and the reasons why Henley and surrounding villages experience variations in aircraft noise.
Pensioner overpayment
We helped a pensioner negotiate an apparent over-payment of Pension Credit and the details for repayment.
Utilities
We assisted a constituent gain proper compensation from a utilities company following an accident.
Housing
We took up the case of housing for a former member of the armed forces.
